


Without You

by The_Hybrid



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Gen, This Is Sad, but sad, look - Freeform, not as sad as the one I'm about to write, so no death yetttt, started BEFORE ep 26
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-15
Updated: 2018-07-15
Packaged: 2019-06-10 19:47:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 777
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15298731
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Hybrid/pseuds/The_Hybrid
Summary: A quick look at the 4 in the morning after ep 25





	Without You

**Author's Note:**

> Look, I started this way before ep 26, so this is totally canon-divergent
> 
> And I legit cba so the tags and stuff are rubbish

Caleb had noticed a change in all of their behaviours since they woke up that morning. While all of them were expecting to be missing one person of their little family, to be missing a further three sent them all into a wild panic. They had spent most of the morning light searching for their missing comrades, but after finding only a small section of cart tracks that disappeared after just a few metres and a few footprints and dragged feet tracks, they gave up and moved on, Mollymauk being the voice of reason. Caleb supposed that should have been his first clue that it would be a hard journey from now on.

 

Beauregard had argued against Mollymauk, being certain they should continue searching until they found _something_. It wasn't until Mollymauk, instead of backing away from the angry, and therefore violent, Beauregard, walked forwards and clasped the much taller human against himself did she stop, and instead almost melting into Mollymauk, and returned the hug. Beauregard was silent as she helped pack up the camp, rolling Jester's bedroll up with utmost care, and placing it in the cart near Kiri's designated blanket that hadn't been touched the night before. She looked at Yasha's bedroll almost with surprise when Mollymauk handed it to her a few moments later, as if she was surprised it was there, and placed it on top of Jester's. Fjord's bedroll was placed on the top of the pile, almost as a protective layer. For the first time since the group had convened, the bedrolls took two different piles in the cart, as if the pile of their absent friends' were either cursed or sacred. Either way, the piles stayed separated for the time onwards. Beauregard remained silent for the rest of the day, sitting inside the cart, but as far away from the bedrolls as she could, wrapping and rewrapping her knuckles every few minutes.

 

Nott had not argued against Mollymauk, on the contrary, she had followed his instructions with eagerness that was the opposite of what would have been expected. To the unlearned in the ways of Nott, it might have seemed like she was eager to stop looking for her friends, and that she didn't care about them. Caleb, however, new her much better than that. He knew that she was not eager to stop looking for her friends, but was just pleased to have instructions to what she should do next, as while she knew she did not have time to be sad and mourn their losses, she was not able to think of something to do instead, so when she was given a task, she carried it out immediately. It was due to the fact that Caleb knew how sad she really was, that he broke his rule of no-touching, and had Nott curl up in his lap while they were travelling in the cart for the rest of the day.

 

Caleb definitely heard Mollymauk's instructions to move on. But instead of running to the camp to help pack away their things like Nott had, and instead of arguing with him about the need to continue searching like Beauregard, he just straightened himself to stand normally, and looked at the strange scene unfolding in front of him. He saw Nott run away to camp, watched as Beauregard's anger melted, and noticed the uncharacteristic lack of anger from their only Tiefling left. He followed Beauregard to the cart, helped Nott pack up the camp, and didn't comment as he climbed into the back of the cart as Mollymauk climbed onto the front and urged the horses to move on from this dismal place.

 

Mollymauk, as far as Caleb was concerned, was far too normal for his liking. Apart from his silence (that could easily be due to the sombre environment he did not want to break), Mollymauk's behaviour had hardly changed in the few days since the 'incident' as those remaining had taken to calling it. He had driven the horses most of the remaining day, and it wasn't until Caleb suggested, not overly subtly, that maybe it was time for a pause as some food as the sun had began to descend, that he stopped the cart. As soon as he jumped off the cart, Caleb noticed Mollymauk change back into 'the voice of reason'. However, due the fact the group (Beauregard and Nott) desperately needed someone to tell them what to do and how to act (and that the tree far over to the left wouldn't destroy the hands of anyone who just so happened to punch the living daylights out of it), Caleb didn't mention it.

 


End file.
